<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div apple-content-edited="true"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>On Jun 30, 2008, at 12:32 PM, tony wrote:</div></div></span></div><div><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div bgcolor="#ffffff" background="" scroll="yes" style="font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; font-family: Arial; "><table id="INCREDIMAINTABLE" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" border="0" style="position: static; z-index: auto; "><tbody><tr><td id="INCREDITEXTREGION" dir="ltr" width="100%" style="font-size: 12pt; direction: ltr; "><div>I have a question........</div><div> </div><div>In creating a "realistic" Piano replacement plan for approval by an university administration,</div><div> </div><div>What would you recommend the basic specifications of the practice room pianos be? </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></span></blockquote>That's a really tough question. I have had no luck whatsoever coming up with spec for pianos. It tends to be meaningless. You can spec stuff like "solid spruce soundboard" and "stapled hammers" (this kind of thing is on most public school system spec sheets) and come up with everything from junk to top quality. </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Instead, in my purchase process I name specific brands and models that are, IMO and from my experience, of sufficient quality, and then ask for bids on those models "and other pianos of comparable quality" with the proviso that we will determine whether they meet standard. And then we "audition" individual pianos. Buying according to spec "out of the back of a truck" (taking whatever they might deliver of X brand/model) doesn't appeal to me. I don't think I'd come up with very good instruments.</div><div><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div bgcolor="#ffffff" background="" scroll="yes" style="font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; font-family: Arial; "><table id="INCREDIMAINTABLE" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" border="0" style="position: static; z-index: auto; "><tbody><tr><td id="INCREDITEXTREGION" dir="ltr" width="100%" style="font-size: 12pt; direction: ltr; "><div><br></div><div>How would you compare their importance to the school verses the studio and performance instruments.</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></span></blockquote>For me, practice grands are very high priority for quality, very similar to performance and top studio instruments. Practice uprights need to be decent, not absolutely premium. The grands are what the piano majors get their chops on. They are a big part of why I am there, and why pianos need to be in good musical shape.<br><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div bgcolor="#ffffff" background="" scroll="yes" style="font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; font-family: Arial; "><table id="INCREDIMAINTABLE" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" border="0" style="position: static; z-index: auto; "><tbody><tr><td id="INCREDITEXTREGION" dir="ltr" width="100%" style="font-size: 12pt; direction: ltr; "><div> </div><div>If you would need to "cut" would this be the natural place?</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></span></blockquote>Nope, I'd cut the studios that don't use piano much - musicology, music theory, percussion, band, music ed, that sort of thing - and possibly select classrooms ("used only for theory").<br><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div bgcolor="#ffffff" background="" scroll="yes" style="font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; font-family: Arial; "><table id="INCREDIMAINTABLE" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" border="0" style="position: static; z-index: auto; "><tbody><tr><td id="INCREDITEXTREGION" dir="ltr" width="100%" style="font-size: 12pt; direction: ltr; "><div> </div><div>And how many times a year do you get to these pianos for tuning?</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></span></blockquote>Practice grands get three a semester usually. Practice uprights 1.5 times a semester.<br><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div bgcolor="#ffffff" background="" scroll="yes" style="font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; font-family: Arial; "><br><table id="INCREDIMAINTABLE" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" border="0" style="position: static; z-index: auto; "><tbody><tr><td id="INCREDITEXTREGION" dir="ltr" width="100%" style="font-size: 12pt; direction: ltr; "><div id="INCREDISIGNATUREID"><font size="6"><strong> Tony Mastadonna</strong></font><div><font size="5">Institutional Sales Consultant</font></div><div> </div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></span></blockquote></div><div><br></div><div>Regards,</div><div>Fred Sturm</div><div>University of New Mexico</div></body></html>